The Supreme Court fined India’s largest coal producing company for using forest land in and ruled that all companies using forest land are required to pay a Penal Compensatory Afforestation cost and amount of Net Present Value to continue operations.

The Supreme Court fined India’s largest coal producing company for using forest land in and ruled that all companies using forest land are required to pay a Penal Compensatory Afforestation cost and amount of Net Present Value to continue operations. The Public Sector Unit South Eastern Coalfields Ltd, a subsidiary of Coal India Limited was asked to pay a compensation of Rs. 300 crore (USD 65 million) in addition to an earlier fine of Rs. 50 crore
(10.5 million) for infringing on forests in
Chhattisgarh.

The company had claimed that it was most environmentally conscious and had won several national and state awards for environmental-friendly policies. In recognition of the company’s background, the SC court reduced the fine to Rs. 350 crore from Rs. 600 crore as demanded by the Ministry of Environment and Forests